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Narration: Poem as a Frame Tale
...... A narrator begins the poem by telling the reader about an ancient mariner who stops a man on the street to recite a story. After getting the man’s attention, the mariner then tells his tale. Thus, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is like a framed painting. The frame represents one narrator telling about the mariner; the painting represents the mariner narrating his story. The mariner sometimes quotes another person, such as the Pilot. However, the Pilot is not a narrator, since he is merely speaking dialogue and not telling a story.
Summary of the Poem…….The Rime of the Ancient Mariner begins with a one-paragraph summary called an "Argument." The poem then begins...... Three men are on their way to a wedding reception when an old sailor stops one of them to tell him a story. So eager is the old fellow to tell his tale that he raises on hand to prevent the wedding guest from moving on. The mariner then begins the story—“There was a ship" (line 10)—but is unable to continue because the wedding guest angrily orders the mariner to cease blocking his way.
...... But after the old man lowers his hand, the guest cannot continue on, for he is hypnotized by the mariner’s “glittering eye" (line 3). Like a three-year-old child eager for a wonderful story, the guest sits on a rock and listens.
...... The mariner says the ship sailed southward on the Atlantic Ocean with a fair wind. The sun rose from the sea, crossed the sky, and sank in the west in its daily ritual as all went well while the ship sailed onward day after day. Even though the wedding guest hears music from the nearby wedding celebration, he keeps his attention riveted on the old mariner and his tale.
...... Alas, a great storm came, the mariner says, driving the ship farther south as it passed through mist and snow to a land of ice, Antarctica. Everywhere the crewmen looked they saw ice. Then, out of the fog, a great sea bird appeared—an albatross. And, wonder of wonders, the ice around the ship cracked, and the ship picked up a wind and sailed north. The albatross, therefore, was a good omen. It came to the ship every day, answering the mariner's “hollo!" (line 74).It played. It ate of the crewmen’s food. During the evening religious services, called vespers, it perched on a mast or a rope.
...... Then one day, the mariner shot the bird with his crossbow. The rest of the crew condemned his cruel act, saying he had “killed the bird / That made the breeze to blow." However, when the fog disappeared and the sun shone gloriously, they approved the act, saying he “had kill'd the bird / That brought the fog and mist" (99-100).And so, the crew became partners in his crime.
...... But not long afterward, the sails fell as the air grew still. Day after day, under a boiling sun, the ship hardly moved. It was “As idle as a painted ship / Upon a painted ocean" (lines 117-118). And the men thirsted—in the middle of an ocean with water everywhere. They saw slimy creatures crawling on the sea, and at night they beheld a fire dancing on the ropes and chains that control the masts—an ill omen. (Sailors at sea often saw this phenomenon, known as St. Elmo’s fire. It is electricity discharged from pointed objects, such as masts, during storms.
……..The phenomenon can also be seen on land on trees or towers that rise to a point. Today, it can also be seen in the air on wings and propellers of aircraft.) Blaming the mariner for their woes, the crewmen hung the dead albatross around his neck.
As each man weakened with thirst and fatigue, the mariner beheld a sign in the sky—a mere speck that grew into a mist and took shape upon its approach. It appeared to be a ship. The men were heartened. But what kind of ship moves without a wind?
When the sun was setting, the vessel drew near and revealed itself as a ghostly “skeleton of a ship" (line 177) with only two crew members. One was a specter woman—“Life-in-Death" (line 193)—with red lips, yellow hair, and white skin. The other was her mate, Death. They rolled dice for the crewmen, and Death won everyone except the ancient mariner. He was the prize of Life-in-Death.
...... All the crew—200 men—then dropped dead one by one, all except the mariner. Their souls flew by him, to heaven or hell, like arrows shot from a crossbow. The wedding guest interrupts the narrative at this point to express his fear of the mariner. After all, the old man could also be a departed soul, a ghost. But the mariner assures him that he is flesh and blood, then continues his tale.
...... Now he was alone on the ocean with only slimy sea creatures to keep him company. He tried to pray but failed. The lifeless crewmen, meanwhile, looked up at him with a never-changing gaze, fixed by death. For seven days and nights, he endured their gaze. During this time, at night in the moonlight, he watched the water snakes—“blue, glossy green, and velvet black" (line 280)—swim and coil. Their sleek beauty touched him, and he found himself blessing them. He also found that he was able to pray; in short, he was beginning to regret shooting the albatross.
Suddenly, the albatross fell from his neck and sank into the sea.
And then the mariner slipped into a gentle sleep, for which he thanked Mary, the holy Mother who is Queen of heaven. When he awakened, rain was falling and wind was roaring. Although the wind did not reach the ship, the ship began to move—and the dead crewmen rose to man the ship—steering, tugging the ropes. The body of his brother’s son helped him pull on a rope, though he spoke no words.
...... The wedding guest again interrupts to express his fear. But the mariner again calms him and resumes the story, as follows.
At dawn, the ghostly crewmen let loose the ropes and made “sweet sounds" (line 353) mingled with the songs of birds. It was an angelic symphony. The ship sailed on. A spirit, it seemed, was moving the ship. Then the ship began to rock and bob—and suddenly lurched forward, causing the mariner to fall in a faint. When he came to, he heard two spirit voices. One asked whether this was the man who shot the albatross. The other, confirming that it was, said the mariner had done penance for his wrongdoing but still had more penance to do.
...... The ship began to sail northward at such a great speed that the mariner went into a trance. When the mariner woke up, the ship was sailing gently onward. All the dead crewmen were standing together, staring at the mariner. A wind—like a gale across a meadow in the spring—began to blow, tousling the mariner’s hair and cooling his cheek. The ship picked up speed and soon the mariner saw a lighthouse, a hill, and a church. It was his native land at long last.
...... The water in the harbor bay was calm, reflecting the light of the moon. On the ship, the corpses were no longer standing but lying “lifeless and flat" (line 489). Over each body was a seraph (an angel), giving off a heavenly light that could be seen on the shore.
…….Soon a boat came rowing forth carrying a Pilot, the Pilot’s boy, and a Hermit singing hymns. The Hermit, who lived in woods near the sea and knelt on moss to pray, loved to talk with sailors from afar. When the boat drew close, the mariner heard them say that the ship looked strange. “It hath a fiendish look" (line 539), the Pilot said. Suddenly, the ship sank, rumbling down and leaving the mariner floating helplessly. But in a moment he was in the Pilot’s boat, which whirled round and round. When seeing the mariner’s face, the Pilot fell down in a fit and the Hermit prayed. The mariner took up oars and began rowing. At that, the boy laughed, observing that “the Devil knows how to row" (line 570).
...... After the boat reached land, the mariner begged the Hermit to hear his confession and absolve him of his sins. “What manner of man art thou?" (line 578) the Hermit said. And the mariner told him his tale. Since that the time, the mariner says, he has felt a compulsion to travel from land to land. It is his penance. Whenever he remembers his experience at sea—the terror of it all—he must stop someone to tell him his story in order to relieve his agony. He knows at a mere glance which man he must single out to listen to the tale.
...... The wedding celebration continues while the mariner hears a vesper bell calling him to prayer. It is far sweeter to him to pray to God, he says, than it would be to enjoy the pleasure of a wedding celebration. The mariner notes that a man prays best “who loveth best / All things both great and small" (lines 615-616)—that is, who loves all of the things that God created.
...... The mariner then walks on. So does the wedding guest, as if stunned. But he is a “sadder and wiser man."
LITERARY DEVICES COLERIDGE USES IN MARINER
1.Internal Rhyme
Besides end rhyme, Coleridge also frequently uses internal rhyme. Following are examples:
The guests are met, the feast is set (line 7)
The ship drove fast, loud roared the blast(line 49)
And through the drifts the snowy clifts (line 54)
The ice did split with a thunder-fit (line 69)
In mist or cloud, on mast or shroud (line 75)
The fair breeze blew, the white foam flew (line 103)
2.Inversion
...... For poetic effect, Coleridge inverts the word order from time to time, as the following lines demonstrate.
Instead of the cross, the Albatross
About my neck was hung. (lines 141-142)
The normal word order would be "was hung about my neck."
Through utter drought all dumb we stood! (line 159)
The normal word order would be "we stood all dumb."
The naked hulk alongside came (line 195)
The normal word order would be "came alongside."
3.Enjambment
...... Coleridge occasionally uses enjambment, the practice of carrying the sense of one line of verse over to the next line without a pause. Here are examples:
And now the storm-blast came, and he
Was tyrannous and strong (lines 41-42)
We could not speak, no more than if
We had been choked with soot. (lines 137-138)
Instead of the cross, the Albatross
About my neck was hung. (lines 141-142)
'There passed a weary time. Each throat
Was parch'd, and glazed each eye. (lines 143-144)
Figures of Speech
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The poem is rich in figures of speech. Here are examples:
1.Alliteration
By thy long grey beard and glittering eye (line 3)
He holds him with his skinny hand (line 9)
The Wedding-Guest here beat his breast,
For he heard the loud bassoon. (lines 31-32)
The merry minstrelsy (line 36)
The furrow followed free (line 104)
2.Anaphora- the repetition of certain words for emphasis
The ice was here, the ice was there,
The ice was all around. (line 59-60)
With throats unslaked, with black lips baked (line 157)
Without a breeze, without a tide (line 169)
Her lips were red, her looks were free,
Her locks were yellow as gold:
Her skin was as white as leprosy (lines 190-192)
They groan'd, they stirr'd, they all uprose,
Irony
Water, water, every where,
And all the boards did shrink ;
Water, water, every where,
Nor any drop to drink. (lines 119-122)
Water is everywhere, but there is none to drink.
Metaphor
Each turned his face with a ghastly pang,
And cursed me with his eye. (lines 215-216)
Comparison of the appearance of the eye to a curse
They coil'd and swam; and every track
Was a flash of golden fire. (lines 281-282)
Comparison of the wake left by the sea snakes to fire
Onomatopoeia
It crack'd and growl'd, and roar'd and howl'd (line 61)
Personification
The Sun came up upon the left,
Out of the sea came he !
And he shone bright, and on the right
Went down into the sea. (lines 25-28)
Comparison of the sun to a person
Simile
[E]very soul, it passed me by,
Like the whizz of my crossbow! (lines 223-224)
Comparison of the passing of a soul to the sound of a shot arrow
[T]he sky and the sea, and the sea and the sky
Lay like a load on my weary eye (lines 251-252)
Comparison of the sky and sea to a weight on the eye
Her beams bemocked the sultry main,
Like April hoar-frost spread (lines 268-269)
Comparison of reflected sunbeams to frost
The bride hath paced into the hall,......
Red as a rose is she (lines 33-34)
Comparison of the bride to a rose
The water, like a witch's oils,
Burnt green, and blue and white. (lines 129-130)
Comparison of water to witch's oils
Day after day, day after day,
We stuck, nor breath nor motion;
As idle as a painted ship
Upon a painted ocean. (lines 115-118)
Comparison of the motionless ship and ocean to paintings
Synecdoche
The western wave was all a-flame (line 171)
Wave refers to the ocean.
Themes
The Transformative Power of the Imagination
Coleridge believed that a strong, active imagination could become a vehicle for transcending unpleasant circumstances. Many of his poems are powered exclusively by imaginative flights, wherein the speaker temporarily abandons his immediate surroundings, exchanging them for an entirely new and completely fabricated experience.
Using the imagination in this way is both empowering and surprising because it encourages a total and complete disregard for the confines of time and place.
The Interplay of Philosophy, Piety, and Poetry
Coleridge used his poetry to explore conflicting issues in philosophy and religious piety. Some critics argue that Coleridge’s interest in philosophy was simply his attempt to understand the imaginative and intellectual impulses that fueled his poetry. To support the claim that his imaginative and intellectual forces were, in fact, organic and derived from the natural world, Coleridge linked them to God, spirituality, and worship. In his work, however, poetry, philosophy, and piety clashed, creating friction and disorder for Coleridge, both on and off the page. In “The Eolian Harp”(1795), Coleridge struggles to reconcile the three forces. Here, the speaker’s philosophical tendencies, particularly the belief that an “intellectual breeze”(47) brushes by and inhabits all living things with consciousness, collide with those of his orthodox wife, who disapproves of his unconventional ideas and urges him to Christ. While his wife lies untroubled, the speaker agonizes over his spiritual conflict, caught between Christianity and a unique, individual spirituality that equates nature with God. The poem ends by discounting the pantheist spirit, and the speaker concludes by privileging God and Christ over nature and praising them for having healed him from the spiritual wounds inflicted by these unorthodox views.
Nature and the Development of the Individual
Coleridge, Wordsworth, and other romantic poets praised theunencumbered, imaginative soul of youth, finding images in nature with which to describe it.
According to their formulation, experiencing nature was an integral part of the development of a complete soul and sense of personhood.
The death of his father forced Coleridge to attend school in London, far away from the rural idylls of his youth, and he lamented the missed opportunities of his sheltered, city-bound adolescence in many poems.As a young man, he failed to develop a deep relationship with God and with nature, an opportunity denied to the Mariner as well.
For Coleridge, nature had the capacity to teach joy, love, freedom, and piety, crucial characteristics for a worthy, developed individual.
Motifs
Conversation Poems
Coleridge wanted to mimic the patterns and cadences of everyday speech in his poetry. Many of his poems openly address a single figure—the speaker’s wife, son, friend, and so on—who listens silently to the simple, straightforward language of the speaker. Here the audience is the Wedding Guest.
Unlike the descriptive, long, digressive poems of Coleridge’s classicist predecessors, Coleridge’s so-called conversation poems are short, self-contained, and often without a discernable poetic form. Colloquial, spontaneous, and friendly, Coleridge’s conversation poetry is also highly personal, frequently incorporating events and details of his domestic life in an effort to widen the scope of possible poetic content.